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| AHS ranks in the top 1 percent of high schools in the nation, and No. 4 in Arkansas, as seen on the image above which was taken from The Washington Post's story. |
Arkadelphia High School was recently ranked in the top 1
percent of the nation’s high schools, and No. 4 in Arkansas by the Washington
Post. Earlier this month, the Washington Post published the annual High School
Challenge Index, which rates the nation’s high schools in terms of each
school’s academic rigor. According to the article’s author, Jay Mathews, “The Challenge Index is designed to identify
schools that have done the best job in persuading average students to take
college-level courses and tests.”
“It is outstanding
for AHS to be recognized in this manner,” Donnie Whitten, Superintendent at the Arkadelphia Public Schools,
said. “We are proud of our
faculty, staff and administration for their hard work and dedication to
excellence.”
“We are proud of our faculty, staff and administration for their hard work and dedication to excellence.”
-Donnie Whitten, APS Superintendent
Whitten
continued, saying “AHS’s rankings as No. 213 in the nation and No. 4 in
Arkansas demonstrate a commitment to challenging our students with the most
rigorous curriculum possible.”
AP, or Advanced
Placement, classes are
college-level classes offered to high school students in a wide variety of
subjects. If a student scores high enough on the AP exam, then they can earn
college credit for that subject. The curriculum of these classes offers students
challenging course work and an example of the increased demands of college
classes. In 2012-13, AHS
administered 561 AP exams to 199 students, 34 percent of AHS’s enrollment. All
core subject-area teachers at AHS are Pre-AP or AP certified and, during the
2013-14 school year, AHS offered 11 AP classes in subjects such as Calculus,
Chemistry, Physics, Government, Biology and Literature. AHS also offers AP
tests in two additional classes where teachers mentor students who excel in
specific, advanced subjects.
“The most
important aspect of the AP curriculum is to challenge these students early so
that they are better prepared for college,” David Maxwell, AHS Principal, said.
College retention
rates of AHS graduates reinforce the claim that exposing a greater number of
high school students to more rigorous curriculum does increase their chances of
success after graduating high school.
“The freshman to
sophomore college retention rate for AHS graduates is 15 percent better than
that of the national average,” Maxwell said. “Our kids can afford to stay in
college because of the Arkadelphia Promise, and just as importantly, can make
the grades to stay in college because of the education we’ve made available to
them.”
“The freshman to sophomore college retention rate for AHS graduates is 15 percent better than that of the national average. Our kids can afford to stay in college because of the Arkadelphia Promise, and just as importantly, can make the grades to stay in college because of the education we've made available to them.”
-David Maxwell, AHS Principal
“Our students
wouldn’t be able to achieve at this high of a level without the tireless effort
of the AHS faculty and the support of our community. It is truly a blessing to
be part of a community so dedicated to academics and education,” Maxwell said.
To calculate the Challenge Index for the Washington Post’s rankings, Mathews divides the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or other college-level tests a school administered by the number of graduating seniors. The article states that, while not a measure of the overall quality of the school, the rating can reveal the level of a high school’s commitment to preparing average students for college.
To calculate the Challenge Index for the Washington Post’s rankings, Mathews divides the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or other college-level tests a school administered by the number of graduating seniors. The article states that, while not a measure of the overall quality of the school, the rating can reveal the level of a high school’s commitment to preparing average students for college.
“I designed the list to identify the schools
working hardest to challenge average students with Advanced Placement tests,
good preparation for both college and the workplace. This is in contrast to the
usual ranking of schools by test score averages, which is more of an indication
of how affluent the parents are than of how good the school is,” Mathews said.
“I decided not to count passing rates in this way because I found that many high schools kept those rates artificially high by allowing only top students to take the courses. AP… [is] important because they give average students a chance to experience the trauma of heavy college reading lists and long, analytical college examinations. Research has found that even low-performing students who scored a two on an AP test did significantly better in college than similar students who did not take AP,” Mathews said.
“I decided not to count passing rates in this way because I found that many high schools kept those rates artificially high by allowing only top students to take the courses. AP… [is] important because they give average students a chance to experience the trauma of heavy college reading lists and long, analytical college examinations. Research has found that even low-performing students who scored a two on an AP test did significantly better in college than similar students who did not take AP,” Mathews said.
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